DIY Servicing

[obi_waynne]

How many of us with do some DIY servicing. Is it more likely that we will take on the little repair and maintenance to save the pennies?

What is it that makes us decide to take a car to a garage or do it ourselves?

For me its often convenience. I'll let the garage do a job in a morning with all the right tool rather than struggle over 2 days to do it myself with a knife, spanner and box of screws.

 

[Hansi]

I have never done anything but change to winter tires as I just got my licence this summer and have not had to do anything yet, but I just learnt how to change oil and filters so I guess I could do that the next time that is needed

 

[turbonutter69]

I do all my repairs and servicing to my car. I do all the modifying myself too. I'll have a crack at anything me....

 

[pgarner]

i do alot of basic servcing myself but it going into the garage next month prob as the proper service is due (every 20k) oil gets changed every 6k, air filter is checked as well

 

[prevtec]

il try anything with my car, bar timing belt, thats a professional job
everything else on a car i will DIM

its just a load of nuts and bolts and knowing what goes where

i even tried changing the bushes myself, but had no gas torch or bench press so i got the garage to do so

 

[HDi fun]

Modern cars (and diesels are the worst offenders) are so bloody complicated I don't bother with anything other than fill up screenwash; check/adjust tyre inflation and fill with fuel. I just leave the rest to the professionals.

I can do lamps etc. but even these are so bloody hard to get at now. O yeah, wiper blades are DIY for me.

 

[turbonutter69]

The new Megane's are the worst for changing a headlight bulb/ They are so difficult to get at it's ridiculous....

 

[pgarner]

nope a lot of cars are going down the whole have to take the front bumper off, some have went even further and have a blown bulb/fuse through up the engine check light which requires a trip to the stealers

 

[obi_waynne]

If you can't fix it with a hammer then i'm not interested! Cars are getting complicated and I do feel that it is a ruse to get us using the dealers.

Whats with French cars and their non standard size nuts?

 

[turbonutter69]

My car will only go into a garage if it need either to go on a computer or it needs a special tool. Otherwise i'll do everythin else on it. Oh and the Mot The garage has to do that though.

 

[prevtec]

If you can't fix it with a hammer then i'm not interested! Cars are getting complicated and I do feel that it is a ruse to get us using the dealers.

Whats with French cars and their non standard size nuts?

thats wht newer cars are complicated, so that its main dealers getting the money as to the fella on the side of the rd

 

[gendox]

lol if you buy a decent socket set you get all of that but changing your oil filter and stuff like that is not hard buy a haynes manual or book like that and you will find jobs that are easy to do can be done in half the time plus it has a service check list that you can do yourself from time to time.

 

[turbonutter69]

lol if you buy a decent socket set you get all of that but changing your oil filter and stuff like that is not hard buy a haynes manual or book like that and you will find jobs that are easy to do can be done in half the time plus it has a service check list that you can do yourself from time to time.

Thats it mate all I use is my old fashioned Haynes manual. It does me well and really does help when doing repairs and services etc. I buy 1 for everycar I puchase.... Haynes manual is a must if you ask me. Mind you so are the Torque Cars Forums. Just as good for info...

 

[gendox]

yea a haynes and a good forum all the garages will be going out of bussines well maybe

 

[turbonutter69]

yea a haynes and a good forum all the garages will be going out of bussines well maybe

I'd encourage everyone to "have a bash" at diy repair and such.

 

[gendox]

yea i mean if you have the money to burn witch im sure we all dont you could just pop it in the garage but you will never learn i mean i have never went to college but i have done a whole engine transplant with my cousin and my dad drives his own taxi so i was and still am fixing his taxi all the time

 

[Twamgl3]

I think a certain amount of servicing should be part of the driving test!

I can sit here and type about how I've carried out all the servicing and repairs to all my cars (apart from one winter when I'd had enough snow and ice going down the back of my shirt and paid to get a driveshaft replaced), but modern cars have all manner of covers and components crammed under the bonnet it makes it hard for even an accomplished DIYer to carry out anything more complicated than the POWER check POWER = Petrol, Oil, Water, Electrics and Rubber).

The clutch on my MR2 was a swine as I had to do it outside over the winter and I had nearly 20 years of corrosion and road dust to deal with. Got it done in around five months, saving myself a quoted £900, just in time to fail its MoT and get scrapped!

 

[gendox]

lmao gutted yea i mean some jobs are hampered by newer cars but as you said twamgl3 age can also be a probum i broke my mates snap on wrench trying to get my bolt of my caliper on my old rover haha wasnt to bothered life time guarantee

 

[Loz]

The new Megane's are the worst for changing a headlight bulb/ They are so difficult to get at it's ridiculous....

The original Smart Coupe's were just as bad, the whole front of the car has to come off! Smart wanted £50 just to change the bulbs!

I'll have ago at most stuff especially with the car I have now. As mentioned before a good manual is a worth it's weight in copperslip. :bigsmile:

 

[HDi fun]

I think a certain amount of common sense, observation and anticipation should be part of the test

 

[old-git]

I have a friend who does all the maintenance/repair work on our normal cars as I can't be bothered.

However, no one touches the Robin Hood or Elan but me.

 

[prevtec]

servicing cars is a piece of cake, even the new 1s, they just look hard over the fancy cover, all it is is nuts and bolts and a little kop on ( dont put coolant in your windscreen cleaner) that sort of kop on

if any 1 wants to try their own, let me know and send me pics of the engine, and il talk you through it, at least have a try, you could save 150 - 200 euros on labour
thats a lot with the ressesion in place so just let me know

 

[gendox]

servicing cars is a piece of cake, even the new 1s, they just look hard over the fancy cover, all it is is nuts and bolts and a little kop on ( dont put coolant in your windscreen cleaner) that sort of kop on

if any 1 wants to try their own, let me know and send me pics of the engine, and il talk you through it, at least have a try, you could save 150 - 200 euros on labour
thats a lot with the ressesion in place so just let me know

hehe you run out of things to do now ay, thought you would sort out other peoples probs

 

[prevtec]

well if ye want to pay me for it, i dont mind ha ha
but seriously, give me a shout if you want to diy

 

[stamford]

I carry out all of my own work, I don't have alot of faith in garages as I got stitched up when I was younger. The only job that I will entrust to someone else is my x3 cambelt change as the tooling alone is £350 and no-one hires them out! I can get this done for £450, so a no-brainer and I can trust this chap to do it too!

I do all my own mods and engine rebuilds as well.

 

[gendox]

Cool, Oh and prevtec, im sure ill have a few jobs need doing when i get my a3 lol

 

[prevtec]

Cool, Oh and prevtec, im sure ill have a few jobs need doing when i get my a3 lol

only looking at 1 in the garage yesterday, their simple to service

 

[prevtec]

I carry out all of my own work, I don't have alot of faith in garages as I got stitched up when I was younger. The only job that I will entrust to someone else is my x3 cambelt change as the tooling alone is £350 and no-one hires them out! I can get this done for £450, so a no-brainer and I can trust this chap to do it too!

I do all my own mods and engine rebuilds as well.

hi mate welcome to tc

the same thing happened me with my first car
for a service, without brak4es, i was charged 400 pounds at the time and the car was kept for 4 days by a garage, for a service that takes a half hour and the kit 50 euros todays money

so i choose to learn about cars, not just driving them

speaking of rebuilds, what you know about gearboxes???

 

[turbonutter69]

speaking of rebuilds, what you know about gearboxes???

They make you go forwards or backwards....

 

[stamford]

hi mate welcome to tc

the same thing happened me with my first car
for a service, without brak4es, i was charged 400 pounds at the time and the car was kept for 4 days by a garage, for a service that takes a half hour and the kit 50 euros todays money

so i choose to learn about cars, not just driving them

speaking of rebuilds, what you know about gearboxes???

Doesn't take much to lose faith in someone or a service provider. Once bitten twice shy as they say. I have had bad experiences from main dealers as well, not clever trying to fob off an engineer

At the end of the day, everything is just nuts & bolts and treated as such.

As for gearboxes, never had the need to touch them, always been good to me, engines is another matter!

 

[prevtec]

They make you go forwards or backwards....

ha ha lol